Leading ESG strategy consultancy, The Growth Activists (TGA) have taken bassike through the journey to become B Corp certified. bassike is the first major designer brand in Australia to become a certified B Corporation.
bassike underwent a comprehensive third-party audit by B Lab to certify, proving their commitment to running a responsible business with respect for the community, respect for the local industry and respect for the planet.
The Growth Activists’ B Lab-trained B Consultants provided strategic guidance, supporting bassike to navigate the stages of delivering process and policy transformation, measuring their impact, submitting their assessment and undergoing verification.
The all encompassing certification means the business meets the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency and legal accountability, balancing profit and purpose.
Managing partner and advisor at The Growth Activists, Rosanna Iacono, says, “We are incredibly proud of our work with bassike, where we built on an already exceptional foundation of environmental and social impact practice. bassike’s B Corp certification is a further proof-point of their impressive leadership in sustainable fashion. As a design leader their certification is also noteworthy in signalling to the fashion industry that ‘good’ really is the new cool.”
The impact assessment evaluated the environmental and social impact of the business across five categories: governance, workers, community, environment and customers. Unlike certifications like Fairtrade or Climate Active which apply to just one aspect of a business’s operations or practices, B Corp is a whole-of-business certification and assesses a company’s overall positive impact outside of profit.
bassike achieved a score of 92.6, which sits well above the minimum threshold of 80 points to attain certification. B Corp certification cements the excellent work that bassike have been doing for the past 16 years and is the next step in their sustainability journey.
Leaders in high-end sustainable fashion, bassike was built on three principles: considered design, responsible business and sustainable manufacturing.
bassike has proudly been Climate Active carbon neutral certified since last year. The brand uses organic cotton jersey across their clothing range, as well as ethically sourced denim and leather. All of bassike’s collections are designed in Australia, with the majority of their garments made in Australia.
bassike partners with trusted suppliers and makers, working to make each step of every bassike garment’s journey as green as possible.
Founded by Deborah Sams and Mary Lou Ryan in 2006, bassike was created to offer what they could not find: quality, sustainably sourced wardrobe essentials. bassike now has eight stores across New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria in Australia, a digital flagship that ships globally and is proudly represented in more than 80 retailers worldwide.
Mary Lou Ryan, co-founder and director of supply chain and sustainability at bassike, says ”We are thrilled to join the B Corp movement and be recognised as an organisation using business as a force for good.”
Deborah Sams, co-founder and head of design added, “We are proud to be a design-led business, committed to purposeful creativity whilst creating value and equity for a bigger group of stakeholders, including our community and our planet.”
The Growth Activists are one of Australia’s leading strategy and engagement consultancies, activating courageous organisations for a sustainable future. The consultancy has previously worked with the likes of Rebel, Australian Fashion Council, PE Nation, Environmental Protection Agency and University of Sydney across a range of business strategy, communications and ESG and Sustainability services.
